Tiger ambush kills 5

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 30 June 1999, 16:40 GMT]
Five Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were killed in the early hours of the morning today in an ambush by the Liberation Tigers at Kallar, south of Trincomalee. close to the district’s boarder with Batticaloa and Polannaruwa.

The Tigers brought back two the bodies of the dead soldiers to Kathiraveli, 75 km. north of Batticaloa later in the day to be handed over to the SLA through the ICRC.

Th soldiers were returning to the camp at Kallar after spending the night in the jungles nearby when they were engage in a fire fight by the LTTE.

Meanwhile, another group of Tigers fired mortars on the Vaakarai SLA camp, 64 km. north of Batticaloa at the time of the ambush, apparently as a diversion said sources in the area.

Civilians in Thattumunai on the northern outskirts of Vaakarai fled their villages to safer areas when the army opened up with mortars in retaliation.

Kathiraveli and other areas north of Vaakarai are currently controlled by the Liberation Tigers.